How the Term Atheist Is Being Used in a Contemporary Media Article - Essay Example

?How the term "atheist" is being used in a contemporary media article Definition and Interpretation The terms Atheism or anti-theism, are used interchangeably with the meaning of non-existence of god. However, this interpretation of atheism is taken under consideration quite loosely by the philosophers of Atheism. Michael Martin, a well known philosopher of Atheism defines the Atheism in the dimensions of positive and negative atheism. The positive atheist simply denies the existence of god whereas the negative atheist believe that there is minimal, very less or even hardly any intervention of god in our world where we live. But, they do have a belief that there is an existence of god but the activities of god in operating the world dynamics are negligible. The concept of negative atheism is a midpoint between the two poles of pure atheism and anti-atheism. However, the overall concept of Atheism is based upon the belief on the existence of god rather than having the knowledge and evidence of the existence of god. This knowledge-based concept is also called as agnosticism. Brief History The historical evidences of atheism are not found until the seventeenth century. However, the French Enlightenment of sixteenth century may have some clues associated with the beginning of the concept of Atheism, but in essence the true evidence of Atheism are indicated by the historians in the mid of seventeenth century. Some historians argue that the modern day concept of atheism is the one which is narrow in its meanings. This narrow meaning of atheism (i.e. non-existence of god) established in seventeenth century, but prior to it, the more general and broader meanings of atheism did exist. Due to lack of appropriate synonyms, the word atheism was kept being used in its broader meanings such that the concept of non-existence of god was ignored in its usage. Another common difficulty that arose in defining the true history of atheism is the concept of crypto-atheism such that the philosophers under crypto-atheism found to have disguised their convictions. The famous philosophers include Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) and Spinoza (1632-77) who belong to seventeenth century and Hume (1711-76) of eighteenth century. Summary of Newspaper Article The concept of atheism and its increasing trend is however, an alarming sign for the supporters of anti-atheism. An article written by Marybeth Hicks in Washington Times published on June 5, 2012 also places an emphasis on this increasing trend. The author is a strong supporter for promoting freedom for religion in American society which is effectively on a declining trend as per author’s point of views. The major concern to the author is that American society especially the young generation is being moved away from the religion by strong atheist lobbies. America came into being with the intent to flourish and develop such a society where everyone would be allowed to practice the religion with absolute freedom. But in the recent times, the atheist groups have conducted a massive activity to make America “free of religion” rather than “free for religion”. In this way, the increasing activities of atheist groups have effectively made it extremely difficult for the people not only to practice their religions but also to have their say on religious beliefs. The empirical research of the author shows that young generation is changing their religious beliefs to atheism with a brisk pace such that around 30 to 40 percent of youth is converting as compared to a generation ago when this percentage was merely 5 to 10 percent. This is something very dangerous to those who believe in religious freedom because there is huge amount of concerns that once the ratio of atheists starts to increase more, there is a likelihood that they will gain more power and thus effectively cause abstinence to practice religions. For this, the author has asked the supporters of religious freedom to join hand and take out the rallies for preservation and protection of religious freedom across the country in around 155 cities. Analysis of Newspaper Article If the article in question is closely taken into consideration, the context of article holds that the increasing trend of atheism especially among the youth of American society is the biggest concern for the author. As the author is the strong opponent of Atheism, the whole article is written to deter the increasing influence of Atheism upon the youth of America which is truly the future of America. A highly biased view of the author can be noticed in the given article against the atheist groups and the appeal has been made to the religion lovers, followers and supporters to stand up against the Atheist culture prevailing in American society. The intended or target audience mentioned under the article are the people who feel that the American society should be shaped such that every individual should have religious liberty to practice religion as well as have his/her religious beliefs and views which can also be communicated to others. In this article, author has called upon Atheist specifically due to the reason that the America and other developed countries including the developing ones like China and India also claim them to be secular. However, a secular society does not negate the existence of god rather it allows the people to live with religious freedom. This means that if a person is willing to practice his religious teachings, he would not be abstained to do so. On the other hand, if a particular person does not belief in the existence of god (Atheist), he would also be fully allowed to keep his beliefs and nobody in the state would deter him from keeping such beliefs. America claims to have a secular and liberal society where everyone has the right to follow his/her religious teachings. Even non-believers are also allowed to have their beliefs enforced. The reason why author is calling them atheists is that they are actually putting obstacles for religious lovers to follow their practices. As a result, the religious people are being deprived of their national right to follow the religious practices which is also an attribute of a secular and liberal society. Increasing rate of Atheism being enforced in the country is actually not an issue, the major threat that is associated with such practices is that overall the American culture and society is losing the freedom for religion such that that people are tapped to move away from the religious bounds and make the society free from religion. In short, the main essence of the whole article holds on the protection of freedom for religion that has been clearly stated in the constitution of USA but is in extreme danger with the recent developments of Atheists groups to make the society religion free. Works Cited Berman, David. A History of Atheism in Britain: From Hobbes to Russell. London: Croom Helm, 1988. Hicks, Marybeth. HICKS: Rallies call for standing up for religious freedom. June 5, 2012. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jun/5/hicks-rallies-call-for-standing-up-for-religious-f/ (accessed June 16, 2012). Hunter, Michael, and David Wootton. Atheism from the Reformation to the Enlightenment. . Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992. University of Cambridge. Definition of Atheism. n.d. http://www.investigatingatheism.info/definition.html (accessed June 16, 2012). University of Cambridge. History of Modern Atheism. n.d. http://www.investigatingatheism.info/history.html (accessed June 16, 2012). Read More